Scripture Reflection 13th January 2015, Tuesday, 1st Week in Ordinary Time AUTHORITY REQUIRES AN INTEGRATION OF THE THREEFOLD OFFICE SCRIPTURE READINGS: HEB 2:5-12; MARK 1:21-28 In the first reading, we read of the greatness of man’s vocation. We are created less than God but more than the angels. The author wrote, “God did not appoint angels to be rulers of the world to come, and that world is what we are talking about. Somewhere there is a passage that shows us this. It runs: What is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him? For a short while you made him lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and splendour.” This sense of wonder is the same sentiment expressed by the psalmist in the responsorial psalm. The reason why we are created as such is because God wants us to share in His creative power and to rule with Him. “You have put him in command of everything. Well then, if he has put him in command of everything, he has left nothing which is not under his command.” Indeed, as spirit and body, we have the best of both worlds. We can enjoy creation and at the same time share in the Spirit, the life and love of God. This is the calling of every man. But humanity had lost its calling, direction and identity. Instead of ruling creation we have abused the trust given to us. We have destroyed creation and become slaves of creation. Instead of living the life of God and the angels, we have reduced ourselves to animals without a conscience and unable to live intelligently and wisely. Christ our Good shepherd leads us back to our true identity as children of God through the threefold office of teaching, sanctifying and governing. By virtue of our baptismal calling, we are called to exercise the threefold office of teaching, guiding and sanctifying. We are called to be shepherd, teacher and priest. This three office is very much inter-related. The real crisis today is the tendency to separate one office from the other or to exercise one without the other two. In other words, some try to be minister without preaching; and some preach without ministering; and finally some want to govern without first teaching and ministering. Effective authority in governing presupposes ministering; and ministering depends on preaching. This explains why for the bishop, the pride of place goes to teaching and proclamation, as bishops have the duty to ensure that the truth is taught. He is the chief teacher of the diocese. There can be no conversion without proclamation. The kerygma must first be proclaimed before we can speak of the role of sanctifying. So too, when a priest celebrates Mass, he is ordinarily the preacher. A priest is called first and foremost to be a teacher and an evangelizer. Without first enlightening the flock under his charge, he cannot instruct them or help them grow in holiness and in union with Christ. The role of sanctifying and governing presumes that the flock is already converted to Christ and is constantly being converted to the Lord day after day. This is equally true for the baptized Christian who is called to exercise the teaching authority. Whether as parent, teacher or leader, we are called to teach and instruct those under our care. The most important instruction is not just to teach them skills but to teach them values, such as truth, honesty, integrity, compassion, generosity and service. When we abdicate our role as teacher, we would not be able to effectively govern those under our charge. What does it take to be a good teacher? One must teach with authority. We read in the gospel that “And his teaching made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority.” What then is the authority of a teacher based on? He needs personal authority. It is not enough to rest on just paper qualifications or appointment to an office. Such juridical qualification is important to vouch the authenticity of the person. But this does not replace personal authority. In order to teach, the teacher must know the way and the truth himself. If Jesus could teach with authority, it is because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Intellectual knowledge and a good grasp of the doctrines of our faith can help one to be a good teacher. But without personal conviction and interiorization of one’s faith, one cannot preach with authority as one’s knowledge is a second-hand knowledge and not based on one’s own personal experience. Secondly, a good teacher must be in touched with the daily life struggles and the pains of humanity so that he can be a compassionate high priest. In the first reading, speaking about Jesus, the author wrote, “For the one who sanctifies, and the ones who are sanctified, are of the same stock; that is why he openly calls them brothers in the text: I shall announce your name to my brothers, praise you in full assembly.” Jesus is qualified to be our leader of salvation because not only does He show us the Way but He walks the way. The lack of touch with the grassroots and our people is the cause of lack of trust and often misunderstanding. When leaders no longer feel with the people under their care, they can no longer touch them or lead them. Hence, Pope Francis tells us that we need to smell the sheep so that we can effectively help them in their struggles and problems in life. In the final analysis, it is our way of life, our examples and personal witnessing that make for effective teaching. Students are inspired not so much by what we say but what we believe in and how we live out our beliefs. There must be a synthesis between what we believe and what we do. In other words, there must be integrity of life. Doing flows from being. Before we teach we must first be in command of ourselves. Jesus was a man of integrity. Pope Paul VI often says, we need more witnesses rather than teachers. We need to lead the way and walk the way, as the author of Hebrew says. “As it was his purpose to bring a great many of his sons into glory, it was appropriate that God, for whom everything exists and through whom everything exists, should make perfect, through suffering, the leader who would take them to their salvation.” People must see that we believe and live what we preach. As St Paul says to the Philippians, “My brothers, be united in following my rule of life. Take as your models everybody who is already doing this and study them as you used to study us. I have told you often, and I repeat it today with tears, there are many who are behaving as the enemies of the cross of Christ. They are destined to be lost.” (Phil 3:17-18) At the ordination of a deacon, the candidate is instructed as the gospel is handed over to him, to “believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you preach.” This calls for training, discipline and study. There is no easy way to master control over ourselves but through the cross, like Jesus who learned obedience through suffering. We read, “we do see in Jesus one who was for a short while made lower than the angels and is now crowned with glory and splendour because he submitted to death; by God’s grace he had to experience death for mankind.” One cannot aspire to be a good leader unless he is well instructed by doctrines and grounded in faith and discipline. In other words, we must be disciples before we are apostles. Only then we can lead and guide by teaching in words and personal examples. We are called to imitate Jesus who taught with personal authority. “The people were so astonished that they started asking each other what it all meant. ‘Here is a teaching that is new’ they said ‘and with authority behind it: he gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him.’ And his reputation rapidly spread everywhere, through all the surrounding Galilean countryside.” Indeed, people will respect us and believe us only by our personal authority. We command respect not by juridical authority but personal authority. When we have this kind of authority, even the evil spirits fear us, as they did before Jesus, for we read, “Jesus said sharply, ‘be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry went out of him.” The evil spirits fear those who live a life of integrity because Jesus says that Satan is the Father of lies. That is why before a priest could be appointed to perform exorcism, the exorcist must spend time in prayer to strengthen his faith and put his life in order. In conclusion, therefore, if we want to teach with authority, to be a true member of the royal priesthood, we must first be a true teacher in word and deed. Only those who have given their lives to the people under their care and have gained their respect and trust can govern effectively. Otherwise, those under them will be skeptical of whatever they say and doubt their integrity. However, if they have won them over by their lives and sacrificial love for them, they will listen, because they know that they could be trusted. Integrity of life, knowledge, teaching, and living a life of self-sacrifice must go together before one can truly govern. This is why each of the threefold office flows from the other and complement each other. One cannot exercise one aspect of the office without the others.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 06:04:59 +0000
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